Archive | November, 2023

Biosphere (2023)

27 Nov

Smith’s Verdict: ***
Reviewed by Tanner Smith

“Biosphere” is the latest from Duplass Brothers Productions (DBP) and also the directorial debut of Mel Eslyn, who is in fact the president of DBP and best known for film producing. It’s a science-fiction buddy-movie hybrid film featuring only two characters in one contained space–and right away, I was hooked on seeing this film because Mark Duplass & Sterling K. Brown play the two characters in said-one contained space.

Duplass (who also co-wrote the film with Eslyn) is Billy and Brown is Ray. They’re the only two people living within the confines of a loft-condo-sized bio-dome–and they’re apparently the last two people left alive on Earth. We don’t know what exactly happened or how the world seemingly ended–we just know that Billy, who was the U.S. President prior to the event, accidentally had something to do with it, and Ray, a scientist, is his childhood friend who built the dome and brought Billy in at apparently the right time. Oh, and there’s nothing but blackness outside. Billy & Ray are the best of friends. They do everything together, they work together to keep everything running that keeps them alive, and they often chat about everything from “Super Mario Brothers” to other pop-culture references such as “Jurassic Park” (“Life finds a way”).

Two things happen that throw their whole personal environment out of whack. One is there’s a mysterious green light outside, seen through the glass layers of the dome–what does it mean? Another is…well, I’ll leave that for you to discover. I didn’t see it coming, and…let me just say that even if you can guess where these characters are headed in the film’s general story, I doubt you’d be able to guess how they get there.

…And I’ll also say that it is probably the strangest twist of any film this year and it will probably turn some people off because it is insane how it transpires–but I stayed with it because I was curious as to how these two characters, who are engaging and played by two truly engaging actors with undeniable chemistry, handle it. Thankfully, so much of it is intriguing and kept me invested in where it was going.

Now…I’m not entirely sure I get the ending of “Biosphere.” BUT I am invested enough to ponder it. This is one of those films I may have to see again in order to fully appreciate it–but I definitely will, because it gripped me on the first viewing.

Take that recommendation for what it’s worth. But I’ll try and sum it up again because I did enjoy this film:

It’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.

Creed III (2023)

27 Nov

Smith’s Verdict: ****
Reviewed by Tanner Smith

I’m a big fan of the “Rocky” franchise and I really liked the first two films in the spinoff (“Creed”) franchise–hell, I’ll even say Creed II is now my second-favorite in the overall franchise (behind Rocky). So I was really looking forward to seeing “Creed III,” especially since Adonis Creed himself, Michael B. Jordan, was directing this time!

It didn’t disappoint at all. I loved this film.

“Creed III” continues going for the emotional depth of the previous films. Creed was about going your own way and managing your temper. “Creed II” was about maintaining and defending a legacy. And “Creed III” is about battling demons you thought would be kept in the closet forever.

In this case, Adonis Creed (played again by Michael B. Jordan), who is now retired from boxing and oversees the careers of up-and-coming fighters, reunites with an old friend, Damian “Dame” Anderson (Jonathan Majors). Damian and Adonis grew up together in the group home from where Adonis was rescued by Mary Anne Creed (Phylicia Rashad), and Damian, who would become a Golden Gloves champion with a solid career ahead of him, was still a big-brother figure to Adonis, who would often accompany him to matches. That all changed when a violent incident in 2002 caused Damian to be arrested (while Adonis escaped) and the two to break away.

(Side-note: the opening prologue, which shows only PART of the violent backstory, is very gripping. The actors playing the younger versions of the characters are great, and Jordan’s direction is reminiscent of a Scorsese flick.)

Well, now, Damian makes his way back into Adonis’ life and tells him he wants a shot at the title–even though, as Adonis tries to tell him, Damian has been out of the ring for two decades and has no professional boxing experience. But Damian has a lot of unbridled rage and isn’t afraid of any challenges, and he feels he deserves everything that Adonis has, since everything he was promised was taken away from him when he went to prison. Soon enough, an opportunity strikes when Adonis needs to assure a rival for an upcoming match with his new client, Felix Chavez (Jose Benavidez). Remembering how his old mentor Rocky Balboa got his big break, he decides to give Damian a shot…

I won’t go into how this proves to be a big mistake or how the events lead to what the advertising promises (a match between Adonis and Damian)–but I will remind you that Rocky was remembered for giving it all he had and taking it from the heavyweight champion, whereas Damian just wants attention and doesn’t give a damn about how to get it.

There’s a lot of gripping drama in the tense dynamic between the two friends turned rivals, but there’s also room for emotional love and affection in the scenes with Adonis and his mother, Adonis and his deaf daughter (who wants to fight), and Adonis and his wife Bianca (Tessa Thompson). It reminds us that Adonis still has more anger to overcome and most importantly a loving force to fight for.

And even the boxing scenes, which I’m normally tired of by now, had me invested–though, that might be because the final fight has some stylistic touches added to it. (That’s all I’ll say about that.)

I’m not sure where Rocky Balboa is during all this, but I’m sure he’s out there somewhere (maybe with his son, who “lives in some place called Vancouver with his girlfriend”) and rooting for Adonis to know when to say when and join him in retirement–if for no other reason than to just look back on the good times they shared together, just as Rocky did with Adonis’ father Apollo Creed way back when.

And honestly, I’d like to see that in “Creed IV.” But we’ll see…

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret (2023)

27 Nov

Smith’s Verdict: ***1/2
Reviewed by Tanner Smith

I don’t know why it took so long for a film based Judy Blume’s great, challenging novel “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” to come about, but the film we got more than 50 years after the book’s publication is very much a perfect adaptation. It’s heartfelt, hilarious, inspiring, authentic, and relatable.

I was looking forward to this because it was written and directed by Kelly Fremon Craig, who made The Edge of Seventeen, another great film about young people. I knew she’d be able to portray both the comedy and trauma of coming of age in film just as Blume did in the novel. (She also made the perfect choice of keeping the original story’s 1970 setting instead of modernizing it.)

The film is very funny (I laughed out loud at least 3 times, I kid you not–in particular, one scene set at a pharmacy had the whole theater in stitches), but it doesn’t back down from its serious moments. Both the comedy and the drama feel like they belong in the same film–that’s not easy to do, and this film does it flawlessly.

Everyone in this cast is superb. Abby Ryder Forston gives a natural and lovable performance as our 11-year-old heroine Margaret Simon, who’s in such a hurry to grow up that she’s in danger of missing out on special moments. (She’s aided by other child actors who are also very natural and winning.) And the adult actors don’t half-ass it at all–Kathy Bates is great as Margaret’s grandmother; Rachel McAdams & Benny Safdie are wonderful as Margaret’s parents; and I would’ve liked to see more of Echo Kellum as Margaret’s 6th-grade teacher who encourages her to explore religion. (Part of Margaret’s journey in this story is her exploring Judaism and Christianity, as her mother is Christian and her father is Jewish but neither one is religious and they let her choose her own path when she’s older.)

There’s a subplot that I don’t think was in the book about Margaret’s maternal grandparents–I won’t give away what happens, but even that worked so well in this film because it helps add to Margaret’s big ball of confusion and thus aided in her resolution at the end.

I get the feeling this film adaptation of “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” will be just as relevant as its source material to audiences of all ages, and I highly recommend it.

BlackBerry (2023)

27 Nov

Smith’s Verdict: ****
Reviewed by Tanner Smith

One of the most entertaining films I’ve seen in 2023…is a film about the invention of the first smartphone.

Doesn’t sound so interesting or entertaining, but…

I was hooked on seeing “BlackBerry” simply because it’s the latest film from auteur filmmaker Matt Johnson. His first feature The Dirties is one of my personal favorite films, I also really liked his second film Operation Avalanche, and I also admired his Viceland series Nirvanna the Band the Show–I will see ANYTHING that he does, even if it’s about the creation of the BlackBerry.

This isn’t another film about what corporate greed and hubris do to a creative, idealistic person, nor is it a film that encourages us to demand to take back the BlackBerry phone. (And you wouldn’t want to give up your iPhone, would you?) It’s a film about someone who has a great idea that changes the way we communicate in the world…until someone else (let’s call him Steve Jobs) comes up with a better idea. And it can be taken any way you want it, whether it’s about how the characters went about it, or the little things they overlooked in making it, or even WHY they wanted to do it in the first place, or whatever.

Johnson avoids his trademark faux-documentary approach and instead gives us a fly-on-the-wall technique, with his usual cinematographer Jared Raab shooting the proceedings like a docudrama. But he’s such a movie buff, I wouldn’t doubt he simply wanted to make his own biopic along the lines as “The Social Network” or “All the President’s Men.” And because he’s so good at grabbing an audience with his vision, “BlackBerry” hooked me and wouldn’t let me go until the end…actually, not even the end, because I’ve seen this film at least five other times since.

Jay Baruchel stars as Mike Lazaridis, the awkward but brilliant co-founder of the Canadian software company Research In Motion. (Johnson, who always appears in his own films, co-stars as Doug Fregin, the goofy man-child co-founder of the company.) RIM (as it’s abbreviated) is going out of business, but in comes Jim Balsillie (Glenn Howerton), a ruthless businessman. He was fired from another tech company for stealing a coworker’s presentation–at that point, the moviegoer sitting next to me muttered, “Dick!”–and is willing to take Mike’s idea of a BlackBerry mobile device seriously if it means big money.

Well, it DOES mean big money…but for how long? And I was expecting “BlackBerry” to be a cautionary tale about what greed and pride do to people–instead, it’s more about a great idea that stays a great idea…until someone comes up with a better idea. And how it affects these characters was what kept me engaged throughout the back half of the film.

Jay Baruchel and Matt Johnson are both great as the hopeful entrepreneurs who find themselves in over their heads and in danger of losing their souls in the process. But it’s Glenn Howerton who practically steals the film from everyone he shares the screen with. This guy has so much fun showing the ruthless and reckless natures of this character, who is such a jerk and pretty much a megalomaniac–and he’s never boring; I always looked forward to seeing what he would do next!

“BlackBerry” has a great amount of energy to it, from the documentary-like camerawork to moments that show how the geek-culture unwinds (such as playing/dancing to “Return of the Mack” to celebrate a victory or having “emergency movie night” in the office when things don’t go as planned).

There’s just such a great energy and ambition to this film (from a filmmaker whose last two films were already energetic and ambitious) that I embrace wholeheartedly. I loved “BlackBerry” from beginning to end.